Known prior art systems for measuring ultra-low stray light levels have utilized either continuous or low frequency chopped light as a source. The major disadvantages of these systems have been the inability to distinguish between light scattered by the system under measurement and the light scattered from the walls and holders around the system. Additionally, most suppression systems of interest for space applications require very low attenuation with the prior systems being incapable of covering the necessary range.
The most authoritative work known on stray light suppression is a report by Lernert and Kluppelberg which is contained in Applied Optics, Volume 13, No. 3, March, 1974, pp. 556-564. This report includes analytical predictions and confirms measurements made from satellites for several space experiments. In comparison to the experiments reported by Lernert and Kluppelberg, the LST baffle design problem is much more severe since the LST is a very large spacecraft and, hence, is volumetrically constrained by its launch vehicle envelope. Additionally, the LST is to be launched by the space shuttle, the main result of this constraint being a relatively short length in front of the telescope structure or light shields and baffles. The experiments contained in the Lernert and Kluppelberg articles do not address and cannot alleviate these problems.